Fe

Fe is the mother of Wormwood, who is so named because as a lamb, and still now, he eats that plant and we expect that he will never get any intestinal worms, and are surprised he not only likes it but appears to have no ill affects from its consumption. Fe - Floppy ear and pronounced f-ee, was a poddy from a year when we had chosen not to have any more poddies, especially females. Because after all, if their mothers abandon them this could be a hereditary condition which would be removed if the lamb is abandoned and eaten by the fox and the mother sold. But is perpetuated by poddying the ewe lamb and allowing it to have babies of its own, with similar genes possibly. We didn't listen to our own sound reasoning, heard only the small lamb calling its long gone mother. So we picked it up and it obviously wanted to live because it sucked at the rubber teat with that inclination, a strong life force and consequently grew up and got in lamb herself and had Wormwood.

Fe comes for a feed from the scoop we carry to feed the poultry each morning, and loves their seed as much as she loves Tagasaste and the most succulent grasses and just about all grains. The dogs welcome her when she comes to the cottage off her night camp in the hills and shows no fear of them, as she has long been associated with a different environment than the one she would have experienced as a sheep in the paddock. The dogs touch noses with her, they wagging their tails even when she pulls away from their doggy breath and goes about the business of mopping up the triticale left on the ground by the poultry. Triticale being the bulk out grain of the poultry seed which the birds other than the guinea fowl don't eat unless there is nothing else on offer. Fe and Wormwood both utilise these leftovers. Nothing is ever wasted here, though it wouldn't be wasted if left on the ground anyway as nothing is wasted in nature.

Though having no fear of the dogs, Fe will do as they direct if I order them to push her along a bit when she is recalcitrant and doesn't want to leave her feeding ground or is a bit slow in her pace leaving the common or changing paddocks. She knows the tone of my voice, and when the demeanour of the dogs suggests obedience is the best way to avoid conflict, and does so with an attitude that seems to say, "oh all right." Wormwood will stay close to his mother and do as she does in these situations, but on his own will tolerate the dogs less, yet obey them better if their body language indicates they are working, and into the serious business of being sheep dogs, not friends with whom to wile away the time.

The advantage of having a poddy sheep in the flock is that it will come in close to the cottage and keep the grass down, trim any plants that dare put their heads through the fence and generally tidy up. Other benefits are evident as well, like it being easy to check her wool to make certain it's dry, before shearing or crutching is attempted. So Fe is a member of our environment as we are of hers.